My….HEARTBEETS for ya’ll…..;)

So this week I am going home for two weeks for the holidays and I was thinking….what am I going to get my clients? How can I exceed expectations? well I went on a side cleaning job and this ranch had a garden, there were two workers there and they said, “well you see it everything is dead in the garden, its winter but in the spring when everything has grown in you can help yourself”. Im thinking geez its December in California…… um coming from NJ this is not winter but whatever life goes on. My friend that I was helping on the job said,” hey lets go over anwyay.” So we went and WOW! There was cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, pumpkin, squash, leeks and BEETS!!! and these beets were from 1-10 POUNDS!!! how awesome right?! so i thought wow i can give everyone of my clients this week a beet before i head off on my journey back home. I figured so for three resaons

1. its incentive to not only learn about this veggie but also use it —before i see them again in 2 weeks

2. its luck and motivation to start the new year off right with veggies and hopefully a promise for them to start incorporating it more

3. they could detox and reap the sweet benefits of beets as well prior to the new year

So i pulled them out the ground–dirty, with leaves and all they went straight into my car:)

I gave them all out and got laughter from all—-but surprisingly these were some of the comments i had

“What is this ?”

“What do i do with this”

“what are the benefits and why did you give it to me?”

“WOW i totally needed beets for one of my holidays recipes”

And another person juices every single day so i gave him the biggest one and he was forever grateful.

Surprisingly these dirty beets went further then i thought:)

Benefits of Beets:

builds red blood cells

treats menstrual ireegularities

treats symptoms of menopause

contains iron

strengthens the immune system

detoxifies kidneys, liver and gallbladder

treats anemia

helps balance the bodys metbolism

Aids in weight loss

very high in fiber and cleanses everything out

helps flush out uric acid and kidney stones

tones the blood

Nutrients in Beets:

calcium

iron

magnesium

phosphorus

potassium

sodium

zinc

copper

manganese

vitamin C

vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

Niacin (B3)

pantothenic acid

vitamin b6

folate

lutein

The tops have benefits too:

The green tops actually have more nutrients then the actual beet

loaded with minerals

Contains iron readily absorbed into the blood

You can put the green tops in your eggs, soup or as a salad base.

What can you do with them?

Juice them—they are sweet so they mix well also with other veggies that are not so sweet

Ingredients

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place the beets in the pan. Rub olive oil over the beets, and sprinkle with salt. Cover the beets with another sheet of aluminum foil. Roast for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the beets and how old they are. After 1 hour, test every fifteen minutes by poking a beet with the tines of a fork. Once the fork tines go in easily, the beets are tender and cooked. Remove from the oven.

2 While the beets are cooling, prepare the balsamic glaze. In a small, shallow sauté pan, add the balsamic vinegar and sugar. Heat on high until the vinegar has reduced to a syrup consistency. Remove from heat.

3 After the beets have cooled for several minutes, but are still warm to the touch, peel off the outer skins and discard. Cut the beets into quarters or more, bite-sized pieces.

4 Place beets in a serving bowl. Pour balsamic glaze over the beets. Stir in grated orange zest, and add salt and pepper to taste.